Since the early nineteenth century, the West has dominated global politics. But today, the picture is changing. Rising powers—China, India, Brazil, and others—are catching up fast. The world is on the cusp of a redistribution of power that will alter the world's center of gravity. In this book, Charles Kupchan argues that this coming global turn heralds a future of ideological and political diversity, one in which the West will have to compete with alternative poles of power and alternative models of modernity. The result will be no one's world: a twenty-first century in which neither the United States, nor China, nor any other single power or region will dominate—or govern—the international scene.

No One's World provides a synthetic reading of global history and its implications for the current era of global change. The book serves as a global guide for the twenty-first century, examining competing political models and proposing a new bargain between the West and emerging powers on issues of governance, legitimacy, and commerce.

No One's World is a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate students in courses on United States foreign policy and national security, contemporary international relations, and globalization.

Essay Questions

Courses on U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security

Explain and discuss the strategies in the book for reviving American and European power. Weigh the effectiveness of these strategies, taking into account their repercussions for non-American and European countries.

Discuss changes in the role of the United States in international affairs over the past twenty years. In your analysis, consider whether these changes arose from structural factors, or from specific policy decisions and domestic changes.

Courses on Contemporary International Relations

What were the most important factors in the West's rise from 1500 to 1800? Discuss the ways in which these factors were influential.

Discuss shifts in the wielding of international power during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. What were the consequences of these changes?

Courses on Globalization

Why, according to No One's World, should we expect "multiple versions of modernity"? Why does Kupchan expect rising powers to follow distinct paths to governance and prosperity?

What are the most important norms of global governance in the twenty-first century? What can be done to help nations work toward a consensus on adopting these norms?

Further Projects

Op-Ed

Much of China's economic success in recent decades can be attributed to its unique brand of state capitalism. Have students review current news articles and write an op-ed outlining their positions on one of the following questions: What have been the particular benefits and disadvantages of this system for China? Should the United States accommodate, emulate, or condemn the Chinese approach?

Class Debate

Robert Kagan has argued that the United States will maintain its geopolitical primacy for the indefinite future. Have students read selected the chapter "So is the United States in Decline" from Kagan's The World America Made (or his January, 2012 article, "Not Fade Away: The Myth of American Decline," in the New Republic. Organize a debate in which students, as individuals or in small groups, defend either Kagan's position or Kupchan's position as presented in No One's World. Conclude by taking a class vote and leading a discussion on which side debated most persuasively, and why.

Memorandum to the President

Have students assume the role of an adviser to the president, and instruct them to compose a concise memorandum advising the president on: How should the United States honor its commitments to traditional allies, like Japan and Great Britain, in light of the rise of China, India, Russia, and other emerging powers?